On a sun-soaked matchday across the United Kingdom and Ireland, the second round of the 2024 Women’s Six Nations delivered lopsided results that kept the tournament’s biggest anticipated showdown firmly on schedule, while continuing to break fan attendance records for women’s rugby.
England, the tournament’s dominant defending champions, delivered a staggering 84-7 blowout over host Scotland at Edinburgh’s Murrayfield, a result that stretched their unmatched winning streak to 35 consecutive test matches. Entering the match with significant disruption to their roster — three additional World Cup winners sidelined by injury just one week after a rusty 33-12 win over Ireland at Twickenham — coach John Mitchell was forced to reshuffle his starting lineup: back-rower Abi Burton shifted to an unfamiliar lock position, 19-year-old Demelza Short made her senior international debut, and Emma Sing earned a start at fullback that moved regular Ellie Kildunne out to the wing.
That reshuffled side put on a masterclass of attacking rugby, crossing the try line 12 times — all converted — from 18 attacking entries into Scotland’s 22-meter zone. Number 8 Maddie Feaunati turned in a Player of the Match performance as an unstoppable attacking force, supported by standout displays from Sadia Kabeya, prop Maud Muir (playing in her 50th test match), scrumhalf Lucy Packer, flyhalf Zoe Harrison, captain Megan Jones, and Sing. Ten different players notched tries for England, including a double from Kildunne that pushed her career test try total to 50 in just 59 appearances, former captain Marlie Packer’s 53rd career try, and scores for replacement players Sarah Bern, Mia Venner and Haineala Lutui.
Mitchell praised his side’s adaptability after the final whistle, noting “That was a special performance. There’s been a lot of moving parts over the last few weeks, with some serious injuries.” The 84-point result marked the seventh time England has hit the 80-point mark in Six Nations history — no other team has ever done so — and ranks as the fourth-highest single-game score in the tournament’s history, the third time England has put 80 or more points on Scotland. Scotland captain Rachel Malcolm acknowledged the gulf in quality between the two sides, saying “Where we are in our cycle, England aren’t a team that we are ready to compete with. We created some pretty cool chances but we didn’t stop them enough times.”
The match also made off-field history: a sellout crowd of 30,498 fans packed Murrayfield, the largest standalone crowd for any women’s sporting event in Scottish history. That record attendance continues a tournament-wide trend of growing fan support for the Women’s Six Nations.
Across the border in Cardiff, second-ranked France pulled away from a stubborn first-half fightback to beat Wales 38-7 at Cardiff Arms Park, keeping their unbeaten record intact and setting up a potential Grand Slam decider against England in the final round of the tournament in Bordeaux. France got off to a disastrous start: prop Yllana Brosseau was sin-binned for four early penalties inside the opening 14 minutes, and scrumhalf Pauline Bourdon Sansus soon joined her for collapsing a Welsh rolling maul, which gifted Wales a penalty try that left the two sides tied 7-7 at halftime with France down to 13 players.
Playing a man down actually focused the French side, who crossed for their first try through lock Madoussou Fall Raclot before halftime while Wales held firm defensively. The deadlock broke completely after the break, when French captain Manaé Feleu finished off a break from Aubane Rousset to retake the lead. When Wales’ Gwen Crabb was yellow-carded mid-way through the second half, France capitalized in quick succession: Bourdon Sansus set up Léa Murie for a try before crossing for one of her own just five minutes later. Wing Anaïs Grando, playing in just her second test match, closed out the scoring with two late tries to push the final score to 38-7.
Fall Raclot noted after the match that the slow start was a concern for the side ahead of their tough upcoming fixture: “We need to better prepare our starts. We’ve had two close games now that can’t happen again. We were able to talk to each other, get back together, and in the end we got the job done.”
In Galway, Ireland kept the pressure on France with a record-breaking 57-20 win over Italy, putting Ireland in position to upset France’s Grand Slam hopes when they face Les Bleues in Clermont-Ferrand next weekend. The result marked a major rebound for Ireland after a tight, low-scoring opening round loss to England, and drew a crowd of 9,206 to Connacht Rugby’s 12,500-capacity stadium — a sellout for Ireland’s first ever test match hosted in Galway.
Winger Beibhinn Parsons, who made her international debut at just 16 years old in 2018, seized the opportunity to play her first senior test in her home region, scoring a hat trick of tries. Fellow winger Robyn O’Connor, called up from the national sevens program, scored a try on her debut, crossing for the bonus-point fourth try as early as the 23rd minute. Last year’s Six Nations MVP, number 8 Aoife Wafer, bounced back from a quiet opening round to put on a dominant display: 12 carries, eight tackles, one turnover and a try in just 53 minutes of play.
Ireland held a commanding 45-10 lead at halftime, and while Italy rallied in the second half to score four tries and earn a bonus point, Ireland’s nine tries pushed their final total past the previous record of 54 points against Italy set one year ago. After the match, Ireland coach Scott Bemand said his side was already focused on the huge upcoming test against France, adding “There are some things to tidy up from today but if we get those bits right we know we can put in a performance to compete with the French. We think we are getting better.”
With two rounds complete, England and France remain the only two unbeaten sides, on a direct collision course for a Grand Slam decider in the final round in a month’s time. If Ireland can pull off an upset over France next weekend, they will throw the tournament table wide open heading into the final matches.